


Shock

by Fabrisse



Series: Rebuilding the Table [13]
Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Acute stress disorder, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-26
Updated: 2015-03-26
Packaged: 2018-03-19 16:38:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3616827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabrisse/pseuds/Fabrisse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A mission went wrong and Roxy's in shock.  Merlin takes her home to Eggsy for comfort.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shock

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to be realistic in my treatment of acute stress disorder, which is the technical term for what most of us call shock. So if that could be triggering, I'll see you with the next story.

Roxy was yelling at the care nurse and the doctor when Merlin came into the room. “Tell them to let me out of here,” she said to him.

Merlin looked at the doctor who said, “Her injuries are minimal. She needs to see the therapist who won’t be back from vacation until the day after tomorrow. However, she is having an acute stress reaction, and it would be irresponsible of us to let her go home without someone to look after her.”

“I can’t stay here. I can’t.”

He’d never seen Roxy flustered before, not even when she had to conquer her fear of heights. “If she stays with someone, she can leave?”

“Yes, but…”

He rested a hand on Roxy’s shoulder until she finally looked at him. “Would you be willing to come home with me and have Eggsy and I look after you?”

She nodded and said, “Can we bring Sheba? She gets along with JB, and…”

“Of course, lass.”

She began to shake again, but wouldn’t let the nurse approach her with the shock blanket. Merlin took it and draped it around her shoulders. She huddled closer to him until he finally put his arms around her as she started to cry. 

“Hush, we’ll be leaving soon.” The glare he gave the doctor and nurse had them scrambling to complete the paperwork.

When she’d stopped sobbing so hard, he asked her if she could get her things while he called Eggsy.

“When you coming home, love?”

“I’ll be on my way to the shop in about five minutes,” He glared at the doctor again and watched him speed up filling in the paperwork. “Can you make up the guest room? Roxy’s coming home with me. She’ll need something to eat probably.”

“Is she hurt?”

“Worse,” Merlin said. “She’s fine, physically, but she’s the only one who made it out. Her support team were taken out by a bomb. She got all the information, not a mark on her -- though she had to kill three people to get it -- but I had to find her a back way out. Four good people lost, though.”

Eggsy asked, “Are _you_ all right?”

“I’ll write the condolence letters tomorrow, discuss the insurance payments with Arthur, and I’ll grieve then. I knew two of them quite well -- as subordinates more than friends, you understand.”

“I’m sorry, love.”

“Roxy’s in shock. It’s nearly as bad as you had coming back from the rescue mission.”

“Damn. Think it will help if I tell her I still get screaming nightmares?”

Merlin said, “No, _mo chridhe_. You weren’t in charge. She’s seen worse, done worse, but it’s different when someone under your command dies. And you’re certainly not the only one with nightmares.”

“I know.”

“Let JB know that Sheba’s coming.”

“I’ll see you in an hour, love.”

***  
Eggsy was at the door as soon as he heard the key in the lock. Merlin had an overnight bag and Sheba's bed in one hand and was trying to open the door with the other. Roxy looking absolutely tiny with her shock blanket around her and Sheba's lead in one hand. He shepherded her into the house and let JB and Sheba get reacquainted before grabbing the dog bed from Merlin.

"I'm just making a snack in the kitchen. We don't have much in." Eggsy led her away from the door. "I'll take your bag and the bed to the spare room, all right?"

Roxy nodded, then reached up and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

"No problem."

He and Merlin kissed quickly as Merlin took her into the kitchen. 

A few minutes later, Eggsy had put a huge slice of toasted bread and cheese in front of her. "I can't eat all that. Really."

"It's not all for you." He grabbed a couple of small plates and used a knife to divide it into thirds. "Which one do you want?"

She pointed at the middle one and he put the other two slices on plates for him and Merlin. He gave them all cups of builder's tea to go with. "I can make more if anyone wants."

They ate in silence for a little while until Roxy said, "I hate that I became the crying woman over this." She turned to Merlin, "You're not crying."

"Because this isn't my first loss. It isn't my largest loss. You never know which ones are going to hit you, either. Eggsy spent a night comforting me for one person. He wasn't a very good or nice person. But killing him was harder than making the decision to kill thousands with the microchip. There will always be decisions or moments which hit harder than the others, and you never know which ones they'll be."

Eggsy noticed that his skin looked tight on his bones and wondered how much keeping calm was costing him.

Roxy looked at him and said, "What about you?"

"I haven't lost anyone yet, not like this. The worst that happened to me was getting captured and tortured, and, honestly, it was just me. I was terrified. I have nightmares, but the only life at risk was my own -- at least until you came to the rescue. That's my nightmare, that I'll take someone out that I care about."

Roxy shivered. 

"Let's get you into a bath and into bed," Eggsy said.

She shook her head. "No. I… I need to walk Sheba and there's…"

Tears streamed down her cheeks. "I hate this."

"I'd take you out of the field, if you didn't," Merlin said. "The hardest part is that it will get easier, losing people. But there's no such thing as 'acceptable losses' either."

"Why don't you two ever kiss?"

Eggsy chuckled. "Where did that come from?"

"I can see you want to comfort him, and he looks at you like you're everything sometimes."

"Right now, you're the priority," Eggsy said.

"Why?"

"Because Merlin told me so."

"Could I have some more tea?" she asked.

"'Course, Milady," Eggsy said.

"Just because I'm a sobbing mess doesn't mean I can't take you out."

Merlin chuckled. "I'm going to help Eggsy in the kitchen for a moment." 

Eggsy handed him the sugar bowl and said, "Think we need biscuits?"

Merlin stopped him and kissed him. "Stay with Roxy tonight."

"No."

"She's in shock. She's going to need…"

"No. You're barely holding yourself together. The two of you share the spare room. Commiserate. She doesn't need sex, she needs comfort. So do you." 

Merlin said, "I think she's exhausted the fatherly comfort I bring."

Eggsy just shook his head. He picked up two mugs of tea and brought them back out.

Roxy looked up when he placed a mug in front of her. She glanced over at Merlin. "Just so you know, I could hear you. And Merlin, I've never thought of you as a father figure -- the scary guy who made my life a living hell occasionally -- but mostly I just thought you were sexy."

Merlin choked on his tea while Eggsy smiled into his mug.

"Look, Merlin, maybe I should say this private, but we've got enough room for a cricket match in our bed."

Roxy giggled, and they both watched her for a moment to make certain it wouldn't zigzag into crying again. 

Merlin stared at Eggsy and said, "You're the boundary line and no hands wander."

"'Course not, love. Roxy?"

"That's the sweetest thing anyone's offered. I'd like that."

Eggsy kissed her forehead and then leaned over her to kiss Merlin. "I'll go move Sheba's dog bed. See you upstairs."

***  
Hours later, after a game of Scrabble and arranging three people and two dogs in a bed, Eggsy found himself with a head on each shoulder. His arms might be dead by morning, but feeling the two of them finally relax and lay down the burden of the day would be worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> At some point there may be a threesome fic. Maybe.


End file.
